Come Up Here 2
11/02/2008
COME UP HERE . . .!
Revelation 4:1-2; 8-11
**One of the great assurances that we hold onto as a Child of God is what the apostle Paul called “The Blessed Hope”. This hope is centered around the Return of Jesus Christ!
**We believe that in the very near future Jesus is going to descend from heaven with a SHOUT, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God (1 Thess 4:16).
**I wonder what it is that Jesus is going to shout so loud that the dead in Christ are going to hear it and that we are alive and remain will hear that will cause us to be caught up together with them in the clouds to be with the Lord!
**Now I don’t know for certain what it is that is going to be shouted out loud but I “think” we have a clue as to what it might be in our text today.
**Your Bible says that the apostle John hear a voice . . . like the sound of a trumpet, speaking with him and that voice simply said COME UP HERE and immediately John was translated in, with, by or through the Spirit into the Presence of God!
**My message today is titled COME UP HERE and in this message there are three great truths that I want to share with you today. First of all I want you to notice:
I. THE WORLDS JOHN DISCOVERED!
A. The REALITY of the NATURAL world!
1:9 I, John . . . was on the island called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus!
**What was the reality of the natural world like for John? Patmos was a barren, volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. It was 10 miles long and about 6 miles wide. It was 40 miles off the shore of Miletus. Exile to these kinds of islands was a common form of punishment.
**Why was John being punished? According to 1:9 He was being punished because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus!
**In the natural world, John experienced the reality of loneliness, pain, isolation, rejection, of being misunderstood, of not being appreciated or valued.
**Every human being understands the REALITY of the NATURAL world and every kind of hardship that comes along with it. Can I get a witness?
**Has anybody here ever lost their job? Had a spouse be unfaithful to you? Had a son or daughter become a prodigal son or daughter?
**Has anybody here ever known what it is like to be lonely, abandoned, rejected, molested, abused or otherwise treated unfairly?
**
**However, John tells us about another dimension to his life that he had learned how to tap into and that would help him not only to cope with the Realities of the Natural world but would help him to make sense of it!
**According to 1:10 and 4:2 John had learned how to tap into:
B. The REALM of the SPIRITUAL world!
1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day . . .
**O my goodness, did you see what John said in 1:10 and in 4:2? “I” was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day”!
**I notice that John did not say that he was “looking to the government to bail him out of his mess!
**I notice that John did not say that he was hoping that the next emperor of Rome was going to bail him out of his bad social and economic situation!
**No, No, No! John said “I” was in the Spirit and it just so happened that it was on the Lord’s Day!
**To be “in the Spirit” means that you are in tune with and in step with, influenced by, controlled by the Holy Spirit of God!
**Some people are “in the World” and so they are in tune with, in step with, influenced by and controlled by the Spirit of AntiChrist.
**O beloved but when you are “In the Spirit” there are three powerful things that you are able to do.
** First of all, when you are in the Spirit, you are able to:
1. HEAR God’s VOICE
1:10 . . . and I heard behind me a voice like the sound of a trumpet
2. SEE God’s SON
1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man . . .17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man
3. KNOW God’s WILL
1:19 Therefore write the things that you have seen, and the things which are and the things which will take place after these things!
II. THE WONDERS JOHN DISCUSSED!
A. A DOOR and it was OPEN
4:1 After these things I looked, and behold a door standing open in heaven
B. A VOICE and it was OBVIOUS
4:1 . . . and the FIRST voice which I heard, like the sound of a trumpet
1. The IDENTIFICATION was PROPER
2. The INVITATION was PERSONAL
4:1 . . . speaking with me, said, “Come up here”
3. The INFORMATION was POWERFUL
4:1 . . . and I will show you what must take place after these things
C. A THRONE and it was OCCUPIED
4:2 . . . and BEHOLD, a THRONE was standing in heaven, and ONE sitting on the throne!
**Aren’t you glad that there is a throne in heaven and that it is occupied? There are times in our life when the REALITY of our NATURAL world tries to make us think, feel and act as if there is nobody in control. But I am here to tell you that there is a throne in heaven and John said and ONE sitting on the throne!
**Who is this ONE sitting on this throne in heaven? This is the same ONE who spoke to nothing and created everything!
This is the same ONE who:
Wrestled with Jacob and changed him into Israel!
Protected Daniel in the Lions Den! Stepped into the Fiery Furnace with Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego when it was 10 times hotter than it had ever been before!
This is the same ONE who:
Was born of the Virgin Mary and Lived a Sinless life!
Opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame to walk and the deaf to hear!
This is the same ONE who:
Turned the water into wine, walked on the water, calmed the storms, cast the demons out of the gadarene demoniac and put him back in his right mind!
This is the same ONE who:
Died a Substitutionary Death and rose from the dead Victorious over death, hell and the devil!
This is the same ONE who:
Appeared to over 500 witnesses after His resurrection and Ascended back to Glory 40 days later! He is the same ONE who the soon coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords AND Guess what?
This is the same ONE who is also SEATED UPON THE THRONE OF YOUR LIFE!
Somebody needs to say AMEN!!
**We have seen The WORLD’S that John DISCOVERED and The WONDERS that John DISCUSSED but now I want to briefly share with you about:
III. THE WORSHIP JOHN DESCRIBED!
A. The PLACE is INSPIRING!
4:2 and behold a throne was standing in HEAVEN
B. The PARTICIPANTS are INTRIGUING
4:4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders 8 And the four living
creatures, each one of them . . . day and night, they do not cease to say, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD GOD, The ALMIGHTY who was and Who is to come”!
**Who are these twenty four elders?
While scholars differ on this point, it would seem that since the elders are on thrones and are crowned as victors, they represent the church rather than angels. Angels have not been judged and rewarded at this point in the program of God. But angels soon join the creatures and the elders in praising the Lamb (5:11-12). The two different interpretations here should not mar the beauty of the picture and the wonder of this song of praise.
*Warren Wiersebe says: It is unlikely that they are angels, because angels are not numbered (Heb. 12:22), crowned, or enthroned. Besides, in Revelation 7:11, the elders are distinguished from the angels (see also Rev. 5:8–11). The crowns they wear are the “victor’s crowns” (the Greek word stephanos; see Rev. 2:10); and we have no evidence that angels receive rewards.
These elders probably symbolize the people of God in heaven, enthroned and rewarded. There were twenty-four courses of priests in the Old Testament temple (1 Chron. 24:3–5, 18; see also Luke 1:5–9). God’s people are “kings and priests” (Rev. 1:6), reigning and serving with Christ. Note especially their praise (Rev. 5:9–10).
When Daniel (Dan. 7:9) saw the thrones set up (not “cast down” as in the King James Version), they were empty; but when John saw them, they had been filled. Since there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve Apostles, perhaps the number twenty-four symbolizes the completion of God’s people.
The white robes and palm branches speak of victory (see Rev. 7:9). These are the “overcomers” who have conquered because of their faith in Christ (1 John 5:4–5).
C. The PROCEDURE is ILLUMINATING
4:9 Ad when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever 10 the twenty-four elders will FALL down before HIM who sits on the throne and will WORSHIP HIM who lives forever and ever, AND will cast heir crowns before the throne, saying 11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and because of Your will, they existed, and were created!